As is customary, the programme on offer was quite rich in acts and names… among them, one of exceptional standing: Hot Tuna, on the bill for the Festival's second evening, the last date of their brief Italian tour.
Despite the fact that in our beloved country of municipalities and parish-pump politics it is exceedingly hard for news of cultural events to cross provincial boundaries — Como and Varese are about thirty kilometres apart, yet surely it can't be normal that nobody knew about it? — on Saturday 25 July roughly 500 paying fans plus one — that would be me — were there waiting for them, comfortably seated under cover in a fine tensile structure set within the Giardini Estensi.

The task of warming up the audience fell to the evocative compositions of the talented Varese-born guitarist Luca Pedroni, inspired by the flat-fingerpicking tradition and projected into an experimental dimension with a new age flavour, who then handed the stage over to Hot Tuna: Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Barry Mitterhoff.
The first two represent a piece of rock history and need no great introduction: the founding core of the band originally conceived as an offshoot of Jefferson Airplane, they have always been its heart and engine; as for Barry Mitterhoff, although he has been part of their circle for some time now, he is a relatively recent addition and deserves a brief introduction… a prominent musician on the new bluegrass scene, eclectic and curious, he has played in countless line-ups, displaying a particular attraction to those that are "progressive" and open to cross-genre influences. Examples of this come from his collaboration with Margot Leverett and the Klezmer Mountain Boys, in which bluegrass and klezmer music become one and the same, or from his work in Hollywood writing film scores, among others, for directors such as Joel and Ethan Coen.

Returning to the concert, the opening number is "Blue Railroad Train", from "Blue Country Heart", and with it the audience is taken on an approximately two-hour excursion through the roots of the American tradition… the set list includes classics by Lightnin' Hopkins and Rev. Gary Davis, as well as original compositions that retrace the whole of Kaukonen's career: from "Izze's Lullaby", the delicate lullaby written for his daughter and included on his most recent "River of Times", to "Embryonic Journey", taken from Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow" and entrusted with the final farewell.
Kaukonen's voice shows no sign of the weight of years, nor does his guitar. Jack Casady displays the Signature Bass that bears his name, which he developed himself together with the Epiphone engineers; Mitterhoff alternates between the mandolin and an unusual tenor guitar, a four-string instrument that was very much in vogue in the 1930s and 1940s.
The cornerstones of Hot Tuna's music remain their bond with the country blues tradition and improvisation; thanks to their remarkable chemistry, Casady and Kaukonen are able to continuously swap the roles of soloist and accompanist, to the point of interweaving and merging into a single, indissoluble whole.
Mitterhoff takes part in the interplay with the utmost naturalness and his contribution proves fundamental especially in the instrumental passages, owing to his particular ability to bring out the melodic potential of the mandolin.

It is a masterclass in style from Hot Tuna, who show no inclination to show off virtuosity or party tricks to win the crowd over… what they have on their side is sincerity, knowledge and passion, and that is more than enough to make the difference. Or so, at least, the warmth of the applause they received would suggest.

The complete set list for the concert:

1. Blue Railroad Train
2. Nobody Knows You When You're Down and Out
3. I'll Let You Know Before I Leave
4. How Long Blues
5. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
6. Come Back Baby
7. Nashville Blues
8. Genesis
9. I Know You Rider
10. Izze's Lullaby
11. Been So Long
12. 99 Years Blues
13. Hesitation Blues
14. I am the Light of this World
15. Mann's Fate
16. Embryonic Journey

Varese, 25/07/2009 ©Massimo Baraldi
www.massimobaraldi.it